At First Glance
by queen-sheep
Summary: His godfather's name was Sirius Black and he lived in a small town. He had been his father's best friend. Harry repeated those facts to himself as he stared out the car window. Outside, the scenery rushed by, reminding him that he was steadily moving away from everything he'd ever known. [au, the lost boys!fusion]


_For QLFC S5 R6. Plot comparisons at bottom._

Word count: 2953

Note: Set in the late 1980's

* * *

It all started with the knock on the door. Aunt Petunia paused in the middle of washing the dishes, sending a suspicious look in the direction the sound came from. Then she jerked her head at Harry and told him to answer it.

A severe looking lady was at the doorstep.

"You must be Harry," she said. "Is your aunt home?"

Harry was puzzled. He had never seen nor heard of this woman in the entire sixteen years of his life. How could she know who he was? But he nodded an affirmative and excused himself to go call her.

"Aunt Petunia, it's for you," he said, peering back into the kitchen.

"Alright, alright," she grumbled, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Harry quietly trailed her as she went to the front door, his curiosity piqued. The moment she caught sight of the lady, she went completely still, which was unusual for Aunt Petunia, who was always moving, yelling, spying, or gossiping. Harry quietly moved up the stairs and into a shadowed nook, leaning forward to try and catch what they were saying.

"Minerva," Petunia said shortly. Harry could almost imagine the pinched expression on her face. "What is it?"

The lady – Minerva – regarded Aunt Petunia coolly. She was significantly shorter than Petunia, but her back was straight and her expression was proud so she seemed to loom over Petunia instead. "Social services has been alerted of another possible guardian for Harry. His godfather, in fact. He came to us today and he's willing to fight for custody."

Harry's heart thudded dully in his ears. He had a godfather?

Petunia's grip on the doorknob tightened, her knuckles white. Harry could tell she sorely wanted to slam the door in Minerva's face.

"I am a direct relative," she said eventually. "There are no grounds for him to fight for."

Faintly, Harry wondered how much his orphan's pension was. It was probably quite a bit, considering how adamant Aunt Petunia was about him staying. She had never made her dislike of him a secret.

Minerva stared directly into Petunia's eyes and held her gaze. "He can argue for abuse of minors," she said levelly. "And mark my words, I _can_ get evidence."

Petunia was quiet for a long time. "Fine," she said.

…

His godfather's name was Sirius Black and he lived in a small town by the sea. He was his father's best friend, but they lost contact after Sirius moved. He hadn't even known that he had a godson. Those were the facts that Harry repeated to himself as he stared out the car window. Outside, the scenery rushed by, reminding him that he was steadily moving away from everything he'd ever know - even if not all of it had been pleasant.

They had given him a choice. He could've stay at Aunt Petunia's if he wanted. They were rude and ordered him about like some sort of slave… but they were safe. He always knew what to expect from them and how he should act. He could care less that the pension from his orphan status was going entirely to them.

On the other hand, he didn't know what to expect from this Sirius. Minerva had vouched for him, fondly calling him a troublemaker with a loyal heart. But Harry had firsthand knowledge on how appearances weren't always as they seemed.

He was here though. That had to count for something right?

The social worker driving him was a friendly, middle aged man named Todd. They had made conversation for the first hour of the car ride, but it had faded into companionable silence before long. The only sound now was the static hum of the radio and the wheels of the car as they crunched against the road.

"Well," Todd said, sending him a sidelong look, "we're here."

Harry stepped out of the car and quietly thanked him. Todd grabbed his one bag of belongings from the back seat and together, they made their way to the front door. The house they parked outside of was small and unassuming. Harry had no idea what to expect. He knocked on the door and then waited.

The door flew open.

"Harry!" the man – his godfather – cried, enveloping him in a quick hug. He ushered the two of them in and shut the door behind him.

"I'm really glad you're here – oh man, you look a lot like your dad, has anyone ever mentioned? Wait, Minnie said I shouldn't talk about that until you're ready, oops. Just ignore what I said!"

Sirius stopped at the landing abruptly, and Harry nearly bowled him over.

"I reckon you're hungry. Do you want some food?" Sirius asked, turning to look down at him.

Harry got a good look at Sirius for the first time. He was handsome – startlingly so. His black hair fell in loose waves around his face, and his grin has a boyish charm to it. But it was all very overwhelming.

"Actually," Harry said, "I was wondering if I could go out maybe? I just wanna look around."

Sirius paused, then shrugged. "Sure thing, kiddo. Just be back before dinner time."

Harry agreed to that easy request. After Todd helped him carry his luggage upstairs, he stayed behind to sign some papers, and then he exited the house.

Harry headed towards town center. He was only spared a couple of curious glances as he walked down the street. And then someone called out to him.

"You look new," a voice said to his right.

Harry looked down the sidewalk to see a handsome young man smiling at him.

"Er, yes," he mumbled. "I moved in today."

"Ah, welcome to the neighbourhood then. I'm Tom Riddle," the man said, introducing himself.

"Harry Potter."

"Since you're new, I can show you around if you'd like?" Tom offered.

The people here were so nice. Harry smiled. "That would be great actually. I've just been wandering around aimlessly."

Tom started walking in the direction Harry had been going and Harry fell into step beside him, the two of them chatting easily.

...

A couple weeks later, Harry found himself by the boardwalk. It was the only place he had yet to fully explore, but there was nothing particularly special about the place. The only interesting thing here was the one wall covered top to bottom with "missing" posters. There seemed to be no end to them, with cats, dogs, and even ferrets having gone mysteriously missing. Some of the posters were old and weathered, but most of them were crisp white and the edges sharp, clearly having been placed there just recently.

Strange.

In the distance, he heard faint voices growing nearer. Harry turned to see two figures approaching the wall. The boy was carrying a stack of papers so tall that he winced in sympathy. The girl next to him aggressively shook her masking tape in the air as she spoke.

"I'm telling you," she was saying, "this is all that blasted Remus' fault! He's up to something, I know it."

The boy let out a long suffering sigh. "I know, but you can't just _say_ that. Everyone loves him and they won't hear a word of it."

Harry remained frozen in place, listening. Suddenly, the girl looked up and Harry made awkward eye contact with her. In an instant, she was walking up to him and thrusting a flyer into his chest.

"Have you seen this cat?" she demanded. "His name is Crookshanks and he's gone missing."

Harry took the flyer but slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him."

Hermione deflated. The boy caught up to them, visibly straining under the weight of the paper.

"I'm Ron, and this is Hermione," he said. "Sorry, she's always like that – don't take it personally."

Harry smiled at them. "I don't mind. But what were you two were talking about earlier?"

Ron carefully looked around them, checking for any eavesdroppers. Then, he leaned in and Hermione and Harry did the same.

"So there's this guy named Remus who lives here. He's the manager of the video store."

Harry had stepped foot in there once. The only worker there had had tired eyes and a kind smile.

"We think he's been the one who's been stealing everyone's pets," Ron continued.

Hermione nodded her agreement. "Don't call me crazy, but I think he might be the leader of a cult or something," she said. "Sacrificial animals and everything – I'm still researching it. We've been trying to find evidence for it but it's hard when everyone in this town likes him."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I could help," he offered.

The two of them beamed at him. They shook on it, made plans, and then parted ways.

…

"Harry, do you need dinner tonight?" Sirius called after him.

"No need! I'm going out with Ron and Hermione tonight!" Harry said as he slipped on his shoes. He stumbled out the door and headed straight for the library at the center of the town.

In the week since they had first met and Harry impulsively agreed to help them, Ron and Hermione had quickly caught him up. Remus Lupin had moved into town only last year. He had gotten a job part-time at the video store, but shortly after, the owner had died of pneumonia. The owner's husband hadn't wanted to keep the store and offered it to Remus for a discounted price.

Pets started going missing around the time he moved in as well.

"And," Ron had finished, "there's no way anyone can be that nice. It must be an act."

Hermione had hummed her agreement and that had been that.

Now, they were hunched around the library table researching the use of animal sacrifices in cult ceremonies. Harry was almost a hundred percent certain Ron was asleep behind the book propped up on the table.

"Any new information?" Harry asked wearily.

Hermione sighed. "We don't have enough information. A lot of cults use animal sacrifices for everything from calling demons to obtaining immortality. It's just too vague."

She shut the book and groaned into her hands. "I miss Crookshanks," she whispered.

"We'll get him back," Harry said, determined.

...

"You seem to be fitting in well," Sirius said over breakfast one day. He was beaming. "Where do you and your friends go all the time?"

Harry smiled bashfully back. "Sometimes we go over to the boardwalk or the library, but recently we've been spending a lot of time at the video store."

It was true. Mostly, they were watching Remus and seeing where he went and what he did with his time, waiting for him to slip up. The fact that he spent most of the day puttering around in full view at the store did nothing to deter them.

Sirius went pink around the ears and he coughed into his hand. "Oh," he said. "How's Remus doing?"

Harry squinted suspiciously at him. "He's… fine." Then the realization came and his stomach sank. "Wait, do you _like_ him?"

Sirius choked. " _No._ Well, yes. Don't tell him I said that!"

He continued babbling, but all Harry could think of was that his guardian was in love with a murderer.

…

It happened completely by chance.

Harry was on a walk around the neighbourhood when he spotted Tom slipping into a narrow alleyway between two buildings. They had never exchanged contact information after their first meeting, but they had met by chance several times afterwards and it had always been a pleasant affair.

Harry followed after him, intending to say hi. He peeked his head around the corner, and saw that Tom was crouched low on the ground, holding his hand out for an alley cat to sniff. Once the cat was relaxed and purring into his hand, he turned to stroke its head.

Then in a motion so swift Harry was sure he was seeing things, Tom gripped the neck of the cat and snapped it.

Harry's heart froze in his chest.

He backtracked as quickly as he could, turning and fleeing. They had been completely wrong the entire time. Remus wasn't the killer. He had never been the killer at all.

Harry was at the Granger house early next morning, rapping on the door impatiently. Mr. Granger answered the door with a puzzled expression, and Harry politely excused himself as he slipped past him and into Hermione's room.

As expected, she was already awake.

"Harry?" she asked. "What's the rush?"

He quickly explained to her what he had seen last night, and a troubled expression fell across her face.

"Let's go get Ron," she said and Harry agreed.

Together, they booked it over the Weasley household where they dodged a falling bucket prank (courtesy of the twins), a stressed out Percy Weasley, and Molly Weasley trying to usher them into the dining room for food. They barged into Ron's room (unlocked, thankfully) and shook him awake.

They then explained what happened a second time. At the end of it, Ron stared at them, wide eyed and disbelieving.

"So what do we do?" he asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment. "We need evidence," he said.

…

Harry spotted Tom in the cereal aisle of the local grocery store. His heart began to pound and his palms begin to sweat, but he kept a friendly, open expression on his face.

"Tom," he called. The man turned and waved hello. "I was thinking about that coin collection you mentioned the other day and was wondering if I could see it?"

Tom's expression brightened. "Oh of course." He ruffled in his coat pocket for a pen and paper and scribbled something down.

"This is my address," he explained. "I have time after work on Saturday if you want to come over."

"Brilliant!" Harry said, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. "Can I invite some friends too?"

Tom shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, makes no difference. I'll see you then."

The two of them parted ways.

…

Their game plan was to have Harry and Hermione distract Tom while Ron snooped around the house trying to find discriminating evidence. Their logic was that Harry was more friendly to Tom and Hermione could talk anyone's ear off, so Ron's absence would be the least noticed.

But then Ron had reappeared in the hallway and Crookshanks had woven around his legs and shot straight into Hermione's lap.

And _then_ Tom pulled out a gun and aimed it at Ron and everything went to hell.

He felt Hermione tense beside him, and all Harry could think was that they had messed up big time. This wasn't some game that the three of them could play detective at. They were dealing with someone who _murdered animals_ for fun.

But there was no one around. They could hardly run away, not without evidence. They didn't have any weapons, but at the very least it was three against one.

Tom put his finger on the trigger and smiled pleasantly. Harry swallowed and prepared to tackle him if needed.

In the next second, there was a shout and a crack. Tom dropped like a rock, bleeding from his thigh. Behind him, behind _Ron_ , stood Remus Lupin, looking like he'd just finished running a marathon. He was holding a gun of his own. Harry lunged forward and kicked Tom's gun out of his grip, where it skidded and slipped under the couch.

Under Remus' watchful eye, Tom slowly raised both hands above his head. He obviously knew he had lost in this situation.

"Thank god the door was unlocked" Remus said. "Are the three of you okay?"

Harry's knees finally gave out under him. "Oh my god," he gasped.

"How did you find us?" Hermione asked, her voice wavering just the slightest.

Remus frowned at them. "I've been keeping tabs this guy as well. When Sirius mentioned you were coming over, I thought there might be a problem considering how unsubtle the three of you are when snooping."

Harry looked down, embarrassed.

But Remus' face softened. "But I appreciate what you guys were trying to do. I called the police and Sirius and explained the situation so they should be here soon."

Coming down from his adrenaline high, Harry only latched onto one piece of information.

"You have Sirius' number?" he asked, confused.

Remus turned pink.

The door slammed open. "Harry!" Sirius yelled.

Harry smiled guiltily as he was tugged into a crushing hug. "I'm fine," he said. "Just shaken."

"Never do something this dangerous again!" Sirius said.

"Um," Harry said and Sirius sighed.

"Never mind," he said. "But at least tell me when you're off doing dangerous stuff then."

Harry laughed quietly and agreed.

At the same time, the police arrived — the "police" being a singular elderly man who looked older than sliced bread.

"Hi Dumbledore," Remus greeted. "Sorry to call you out."

Dumbledore smiled amicably and shook his head. "It's quite alright."

He locked Tom's hands in a pair of handcuffs. Tom glowered down at them.

"I'll get this one back to the station," Dumbledore said cheerily. "The three of you come in tomorrow for witness reports, okay?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded mutely. In the aftermath of everything, Tom's house seemed strangely silent. Sirius spoke with Remus briefly outside before they split into their own cars and Sirius drove the three of them (plus one cat) home.

It was odd. Despite everything that happened, despite all his doubts about moving to this strange, small town, sitting here with his two new friends and a guardian who actually cared about him, Harry felt like he had finally come home.

* * *

 _In this round we were meant to write a story centered around a cult classic movie. I had_ The Lost Boys _. While I obviously didn't use vampires in any sense in this story, there are still similarities between the movie plot and this story._

 _Rather than people going missing, I used animals._

 _Harry takes the role of Sam, while Ron and Hermione are Edgar and Alan. Hermione also somewhat takes the role of Star in that she is a victim of the culprit. They try to discover and stop the culprit for personal reasons._

 _Sirius is Lucy. Remus is sort of but not really Max._

 _The plot point where the Golden trio are suspicious of the wrong person is similar to the movie. In this story, rather than inviting the culprit into their homes, they were invited into the culprit's house._

 _And in this story, supernatural beings like vampires don't exist, so it wouldn't make sense for the Golden trio to straight up murder the culprit. As a result, he was arrested instead._


End file.
